JunJunJumps!: April in Paris next !

April in Paris next !

Leaving Prague, I finally made it into Paris and checked in at the hotel in St. Germain de Pres fine. Off to the metro to Neuilly to go visit some loved ones...

The kids were all excited to see me :)
So Lorna and I took them to the Jardin d'Acclimatation which was nearby.
It is a beautiful park for kids.

Fredrik with Mum on the phone, negotiating the trip to the park as rains may be looming...

...he won... :)
The park is beautiful and filled with many kids with their parents and nannies enjoying the rides and games. My, it must be nice to be a kid and have such a beautiful and fun park nearby.

Weee!

Where's the honey?

Wa?!?

After a fun-filled afternoon we had a chance to catch up back at the apartment to wait for Mummy Sissel. Lorna cooked a wonderful Filipino dinner which made me all so nostalgic.
Merci!!!

The next day, I was expecting a special guest arriving at Charles De Gaulle...

My hunny!!!!! We were able to negotiate a week off of work for her to join me!
My oh my, this will be so much fun.

So without any sleep, we trekked out of the hotel into the city. First stop was Notre Dame and some wonderful crepes made by this sweet man. The crepes were huge and oh so tasty.

Mine! All mine!

Springtime in Paris: all the flowers are blooming and the sun is shining.
What a perfect time to come and spend it with a loved one.
I am so blessed to have my hunny join me in my work travels.

Springtime in Paris: how romantic...

So we sauntered by the Seine and caught a glance of a familiarly named cafe, the same sidestreet vendors...

...the beautiful Pont des Arts and of course Monsieur Eiffel :)

I am actually in Paris
(and still on my feet)

An older gent (seemed a native) was gleefully smiling and pointing at me when I donned my mohawk cap :)

We then headed towards Neuilly to visit our dear fam again.
We got to play some cards with the kids and it was quite cute as Sophie would not talk to us in english and would ask her brother Fredrik to translate. They were so cute.
Oh yes, the game is "Go Fish" : a card game Fredrik learned from Beb's folks when he visited the Lakes last year.

I helped Sissel and Patrix in the kitchen by flexing some my culinary muscle. Good friends of theirs-- Isabel and Frank (awesome folks) were coming for dinner and Sissel mentioned that they were truly French folks (born and raised). Oh the pressure! Thank goodness it all went over well! I think the menu was:
Asparagus with coconut curry sauce and roasted pine nuts, salmon with teriyaki sauce (from scratch natch!) with glazed carrots and onions, then Sissel served a luscious cheese course and an incredible dessert. Of course topped of with luscious wine. Ah, what a feast!

We just got these pics from Sissel. Some fun shots with the kids before the went to bed.
I miss them a lot :( :( :(

Ok, you all can say it.

So the next day...

...we got out of our hotel and sauntered down the street..

....pass an avenue of radiant cherry blossoms...

...picked up some sandwich must-haves from Eric Kayser and took a quick pic of Deux Magots...

...had a light lunch in front of St. Sulpice...

....walked the "rose line"...
(Da Vinci Code anyone?)

...walked some more and marveled at the "for hire" bicycles and picked up some more must-have baked goods at Poilane...

....crossing the Seine over to the Louvre to get to Laduree....

....to feast on the delectable macarons!....
Our Boulange down the street gives Laduree a good run for their money.

We propped our feet on the fountainside and let the cool breeze waft over us.

I was tempting Beb with the last yummy bit of food. You can FEEL the wanting.

Jun...

Jumps!

So where is this "Tuileries"?

Shall we ask the spider?

..or the flowers?

..perhaps the Falafel guy?

We returned to the hotel by sunset and sauntered out again to check out Paris at night.
It always does not disappoint.

Notre Dame and the glittering Eiffel Tower

So how big is that Smartcar again?

The next day...
off to the flea markets!
Les Puces de Saint Ouen :)

The markets were absolutely entertaining and oh so chic and cool! Granted we had to blast our way through the schlock of imitation designer hawkers, we got to the real good stuff. Literally there were acres upon acres of cool shops to glance into and take inspiration. I would go back.

Back into the city, we trekked towards the Galeries Lafayette (hello Laduree booth!) and proceeded up the Champs Elysees. We had to fuel up on some must-have ice cream -- BERTHILLON! My goodness, it is definitely living up to all the hype. My hazelnut cone was to die for.

We peeked into the Louis Vuitton flagship for fun. Nope we did not get anything but it was a cool space and it was utterly packed. We then said hi to the Arc de Triomphe and proceeded to Eiffel with some delectables to picnic on for dinner.